In the Shadows
by Outlaw Team
Summary: Ruby took a mission and never came back, and Weiss's life only got worse after that. Now that she has a chance to do the mission Ruby never returned from, will she find Ruby again? Or is it too late?
1. Chapter 1

**New story! As if I didn't have enough on my plate. Not sure if I will continue this, so this is mostly support based. I brain-stormed this on a sleepless night. This is a lot different from anything I have ever written before. Excuse me if I missed any edits.**

* * *

It started a month ago.

Weiss was handling herself and Ruby just fine with her inherited family dust company.

Ruby and Weiss were deep in love, only being apart whenever Ruby had to go on a Grimm hunt.

While Yang had never approved of Weiss, but she kept quiet for Ruby's sake.

Everything was fine until another dust company came and ruined it.

The Enchant Dust Company had more dust for the world's demand than the Schnee Dust Company ever could.

Then the lawsuit.

Weiss always deemed it unfair. She never even knew what the lawsuit was for, but that didn't change the fact that she had to come to Ruby and Yang's house in the middle of the night, having hardly any of her own items besides Myrtenaster.

Ruby let Weiss use her room and left that night for a high-paying, Grimm-clearing operation. She didn't return.

Weiss wanted to pay her own half of the house bills, making her search around for a job. She couldn't get any jobs hunting Grimm, forcing her to become a waitress at a local restaurant. Every morning, she would check if Ruby's old job reopened.

The job would reopen really often, and Weiss would see quite a few of her old friends take the job, never to return. Team JNPR accepted the job and never came back.

The same happened to Blake.

Things got worse between Yang and Weiss as days went on, Ruby having been the one to make them tolerate each other.

In order to somewhat alleviate Yang's rage, Weiss sold Myrtenaster to pay off the house bills for a week.

Once that week was over…

Weiss looked at Ruby's old computer and typed a few letters. "…finally!" She found the job Ruby had taken had reopened. This time, she didn't waste time taking the job. She heard the door open. "Welcome home, Yang."

"Well you're not welcome…" Yang slurred as she stumbled to the couch behind Weiss. She had been drinking again.

It hurt Weiss when she remembered how directly **honest** Yang was when she was drunk.

A train of hurtful words always followed.

Weiss braced herself for whatever tongue lashing she would get this time.

If only she knew it would be getting physical this time.

Weiss cringed when the TV remote hit the back of her head. She turned to Yang. "What is your problem!?"

Yang jumped over the couch so she was in front of Weiss. "You're my problem! Ruby is gone, and I bet she hasn't come back because a certain Schnee bitch is expecting something from her!"

Weiss frowned. "…do you really believe that?"

Yang punched Weiss in the gut. "Yes! The whole damn time she has been gone, I have believed this!"

Weiss collapsed to the floor from the impact, gasping for breath as she tried to recover.

"Look at you now, Schnee! In Beacon, you were so cocky, but now you are a useless sack!" Yang hefted Weiss up by her neck. "Well I'm done putting up with you!" She headed for the door and forced Weiss out. "Get out and stay out!"

Weiss only grunted in pain as Yang slammed the door behind her. She stood up and began to walk down the late night road.

Turning back to the house was probably what Yang wanted her to do, and Weiss wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.

She stopped on a bridge and looked down into the water, contemplating her next course of action.

Suicide seemed rather appealing at the moment. It would allow her to see Ruby again.

Weiss closed her eyes as she tried to turn herself from that thought, but she couldn't.

Her life was now full of suffering and mockery.

Mockery from those who used to be below her.

The title "Heiress of Schnee Dust" meant nothing now.

Weiss was on her own now, a waitress who used to be more.

A man leaned next to her. "Don't even think about it."

Weiss turned to the man. "What other choice do I have at this point?"

The man was obviously quite wealthy. He wore a black suit and hat. His hair was gray and long, weird for someone who was obviously rather young. His one, golden eye that wasn't covered by his hair shined at Weiss. "Why don't you stay with me for tonight. You can think about this there."

Weiss frowned.

What did the man hope to get from her?

What was his goal? His motive?

Weiss sighed and nodded.

The man led her a short distance to a rather large home. He immediately let Weiss inside and told her to take a seat.

Weiss looked around.

The home was well furnished, though the large amounts of bright yellow were threatening to burn a hole into Weiss's eyes.

Weiss sat down on an armchair and sighed.

The man sat down on a seat across from her. "What is an attractive young lady like you doing out in the middle of the night?"

"Tell me who you are first."

The man chuckled. "Of course! Almost forgot my manners. I am Tsundur Christian, owner of the Christian Investment Corporation and headmaster of Limpus Academy."

Weiss's eyes widened in realization. "O-oh… I am sorry to intrude so late…"

Tsundur smiled. "Think nothing of it! May I have your name as well?"

"…everyone used to know… I am Weiss Schnee. I guess I currently have no title besides 'waitress'."

Tsundur frowned. "I am so sorry for your plight. If I may offer you a suggestion, there is one job that may profit you better-"

"The Grimm in the ghost town."

"Exactly."

"My girlfriend took the job and never came back. I recently took the job in hopes of finding out what happened to her. I am supposed to start tomorrow, but I never thought out what I could possibly do… My hands are more tuned to washing dishes than holding a rapier, and I don't even have a weapon anymore."

Tsundur froze. "Did you say 'rapier'?"

"Yes. I use a multi-action dust rapier."

Tsundur walked out of the room.

Weiss didn't move from where she was sitting. _"Did I offend him?"_

Tsundur returned with a box. He handed Weiss the box before returning to his seat. "Open it."

Weiss opened the box.

The box held Myrtenaster, just as well-maintained as when Weiss used it regularly.

Weiss quickly pulled the rapier out of the box. "How-?"

"I collect rapiers. A friend bought it for me as a gift," Tsundur answered.

"Th-thank you…" Weiss felt a few tears fall from her eyes. She was finally going to do it. She was going to find Ruby.

Tsundur waved his finger at her. "Not so fast. I want something back in return."

Weiss froze. "What?"

Tsundur frowned. "My brother, Lucas, took that job."

Weiss remembered that name. "Lucas Christian?"

"That's him. Do you know him?"

"He taught at Beacon for a while… He was the only professor my team had truly become friends with…"

Tsundur crossed his arms. "…Lucas became headmaster of Asylum Academy before he took this job. He never returned. I want you to **downright, fucking kill** the son of a bitch who did this to him. That is all I ask of you."

Weiss held up Myrtenaster. "Consider it done."

Tsundur smiled. "Now then…" He pulled up a laptop and began searching Beacon's old records. "…I will have your combat wear ready by tomorrow. Get some sleep. Go ahead and use my bed, I don't plan on sleeping tonight."

* * *

Weiss looked at the items laid out for her. "…what the hell is this?"

Tsundur came out of another room with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. "Your combat wear."

"It…looks really heavy."

It indeed looked heavy. While it was designed with the looks of Weiss's old combat skirt in mind, the long-sleeve white shirt and pants had a lot of thick areas for absorbing blows.

And that was without mentioning the countless pockets.

"Its looks are deceiving. That is light-weight combat gear made for high-speed combat in mind. I spent the night making it, so have at least the smallest bit of decency and say thank you." Tsundur rolled his eyes.

Weiss sighed. "Ok, thank you."

Tsundur looked outside. "…probably best to get you there early. Rain in coming. You think you can make it over, or should I drive you there?"

Weiss began to head for the door. "You're not driving until you get some sleep."

Tsundur held up his cup of coffee. "But this is liquid sleep!"

* * *

"Preparations are complete. You will begin immediately."

Weiss nodded to the man that guided her around the area.

The man handed Weiss a large backpack. "These are supplies. You will be in there for a long time."

Weiss shouldered the bag. "What do I need to know about this operation?"

"The Grimm inside the ghost town are very, **very** aggressive. That is why we keep all operations as small surgical strikes. An energy barrier has been put around the area to prevent the Grimm from escaping, but hunters are required to make sure the Grimm don't overwhelm the barrier. The barrier is strong, so understand that once you go in, you are not coming out until all the Grimm are dead."

Weiss froze. "Until **all** the Grimm are dead!? That's suicide!"

The man narrowed his eyes at her. "You can turn down this job now if you like."

Weiss shook her head. "No. I'm going."

The man smiled and nodded. "Love your guts. I would never take this job." He pulled out a medicine bottle. "This medicine is for preventing madness. As you will be trapped in a closed area for a long time, this medicine is a must. You have multiple bottles in your supply bag."

Weiss checked her bag to make sure.

Three bottles were indeed lined up next to her food supply.

The man pulled out a tape recorder and a series of tapes from a table next to him. "This is also for preventing the madness. Talk into it to clear your mind when you feel stressed. Trust me, it will help. It doesn't matter what you say. No one will listen to the tapes except you."

Weiss took the items and put them in her bag. "Is that it?"

"That's it." The man led Weiss to a small door. He waved to a man behind a series of control consoles.

A small bit of the barrier was let down.

"Good luck. You are the first person to attempt this mission completely alone."

Weiss walked through the small opening. "I won't need luck."

The barrier closed behind her.

Weiss walked through the desolate area.

It looked just as one would expect.

Buildings were ruined all around and the roads were cracked.

Weiss felt a raindrop fall on her hair. She looked up.

Rain had come, though only a very tiny amount of the droplets fell safely through the energy barrier.

The darkness that came with the rain allowed for the beautiful display of dust slowly rising from the ground and into the energy barrier.

Weiss walked through the middle of the streets, not worried about the incredibly small bit of water that made it through the barrier at the moment. She froze when she heard something.

Someone.

Crying.

Weiss entered the building next to her and unsheathed Myrtenaster. "Whoever is there, step out now. I will not hesitate to kill you."

No response other than the crying stopping.

A scream ripped through the air.

A dark creature jumped around a corner. It was a disgusting four-legged beast made of black slime.

Weiss actually took a moment to process this. _"I've never seen a Grimm like that before."_ She spun Myrtenaster's cylinder and projected a red dust glyph under the Grimm.

The Grimm only got launched into the ceiling.

Weiss looked at Myrtenaster in shock.

No dust.

_"But I just checked Myrtenaster five minutes ago!"_ She quickly checked her spare dust capsules.

Empty.

She panicked when she remembered something.

The way dust rose into the barrier wasn't simply a side-effect.

It was intentional.

_"Dust is useless in this barrier!"_ Weiss prepared Myrtenaster for a more direct fighting method.

The Grimm leaked down from the ceiling and reformed in front of Weiss.

Weiss quickly slashed at it.

The Grimm melted into slime, letting the blade go through its body. It quickly reformed and slashed at Weiss with its claws.

Weiss took a few hits to her forearms, but none of the slashes made it through her clothes. She sliced the Grimm in half before in had a chance to melt again.

The Grimm didn't get back up.

Weiss checked the corpse to better understand the new Grimm.

It had a rather big nucleus in its center.

Weiss was lucky enough to have hit that weak spot. She sighed and moved over to another room.

The room was empty, so Weiss decided to lock the door and make camp there for the time being.

While it was still early in the morning, Weiss had only gotten a few hours of sleep that night. She sighed and sat down against a wall.

A table next to her fell apart, everything on it falling onto Weiss's lap.

Weiss cursed and brushed the dust and debris off her pants. She froze when a tape became rather visible in the debris. _"The other hunters had tape recorders."_ She pulled out her tape recorder and put the tape in.

**_Hello! Hello! This is Ruby Rose!_**

Weiss felt tears form in her eyes when she heard the familiar voice. _"Ruby… What happened to you?"_

**_I am leaving one of my tapes where I think someone can find it. If you are listening to this, you are probably one of the hunters from the next team to take this job. I am here to say you have made a terrible carrier choice, just let me tell you! Don't worry though; this will also be your last!_**

Weiss let one tear fall. _"She sounds just like she used to… Happy until the end."_

**_As you may or may not have found out, you cannot use dust here. You cannot leave. The Grimm here are some strange fungi-based species. As long are they are hit on an area that isn't their brain, they can regenerate. Be careful. This strange fungi material can change into any material. Steel, iron, titanium, you name it. The Grimm here are also very intelligent. Hopefully you locked the door behind you when you entered this room, because this may be the only safe area for miles. Just remember to talk to your tape recorder every night, and only take your medicine when necessary. I've got to go now. My idiot partner here is nothing like my old partner, so he is probably getting his ass kicked by some random Grimm._**

Weiss ejected Ruby's tape and put it in her bag. "Tomorrow, Ruby. I will do my best to find you tomorrow."

* * *

_**Party members**_

**Weiss Schnee: Tactician**

_**Madness counter**_

**Weiss Schnee: 1%**

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**First chapter done! Leave me a review, follow, fave, do something! Support is what will get this moving! Offer suggestions as well!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Finally chapter 2! I only had to bleed out of my eyes to get this out! This took so long because my classes are relentless and my writing is really, really rusty.**

* * *

Weiss rubbed her eyes as she woke up. She looked to her set-aside backpack. _"Should I use the tape recorder?"_ She decided against it, as she didn't feel like she was going mad yet. She grabbed some jerky from her pack and nibbled on it as she checked to make sure her supplies were all there. She left her shelter and headed back to the streets.

It was dark out.

Weiss checked her clock, confirming that it was nighttime. _"Sleeping early must have altered my schedule. Guess I'm nocturnal for now."_ She stopped when her foot bumped into something. She kneeled and pulled out her flashlight.

A couple scraps of metal littered the ground.

_"Someone shattered their weapon here."_ She looked up and saw a few droplets of blood. _"A trail. Fresh too. Maybe I can find one of the other hunters."_ She nodded as if to agree with herself and began to travel along the path.

The roads were a little damp from the previous night's rain, but there wasn't a puddle to be seen.

Weiss checked her water flask. Thankfully, she had enough water to last for a while, but the barrier made it so rain water wasn't something easily obtained. _"And water is usually the easiest thing to find…"_

"You have no idea, woman."

Weiss turned to where she heard the voice.

That just happened to be up.

A young boy was standing on a building close to her. He wore a light blue hoodie and a pair of jeans, and his features were completely shadowed out by his hood. He had a rapier sheathed at his side, and longsword sheathed on his back, and a big revolver holstered on his knee. "Your trail will cut off at some point. Stay at that spot."

"Why would I do that!?" Weiss called up at him.

"It's dangerous to go alone!" The boy turned around and grabbed something before throwing it down to Weiss. "Take this!"

Weiss caught the bundle of cloth.

It was Ruby's hood.

Weiss looked back up at the boy to find he was gone. _"…we'll just have to see if you're telling the truth…"_ She continued to follow the trail she had found, putting on Ruby's hood as she walked.

The buildings were getting worse and worse.

Sounds would echo through the holes in the walls as Weiss walked by.

The sound of Grimm started to become more evident.

Weiss drew her rapier. _"Kommen auf mich~"_

The sounds got louder.

Weiss spun around to the first Grimm, making sure to slash out its nucleus. "Gotcha."

Grimm started to spill in from everywhere.

Weiss spun around and started slashing, leading the Grimm in a deadly dance.

The sound of Weiss's glyphs rang through the area, contrasting against the whistling wind.

The Grimm slowly began to fall.

A hand grabbed Weiss's rapier and tossed it aside.

Weiss quickly turned to the enemy, only to be punched away. She looked back at her attacker.

"Wie du möchtest." A familiar man walked forward. He had no weapons, but the green outfit and long, black hair spoke volumes.

"Ren. What business do you have here?" Weiss got back on her feet.

Ren got in a fighting stance. "You don't belong here."

Weiss got in a similar stance, non-armed combat being something she had learned from Ruby. "Neither do you. None of us belong here, in this hell."

Ren dashed forward.

Weiss quickly ducked and thrust her fist and Ren's gut.

Ren feinted around and quickly knocked Weiss over. "Weak."

Weiss groaned. _"This can't be Ren. He fights with the same style and intellect, but his personality is off."_ She got back in her stance only to be knocked over again, being inferior in this form of combat.

Ren was knocked away by a burst of aura, fired by an unknown other.

Weiss quickly used a glyph to launch her rapier into Ren's head.

Ren melted into the same fungi the Grimm did.

Weiss walked over and grabbed Myrtenaster. _"The fungi can turn into anything. I didn't know Ruby meant to this extreme. She also didn't mention the Grimm was this intelligent."_ She turned in the direction she remembered the blast of aura that knocked Ren away came from.

No one.

She heard a growl behind her before the sound of a blade interrupted it.

"Watch yourself. Their nucleus is usually in their chest and not their head."

Weiss turned to the man. "Wha-?"

A familiar gun-wielder folded his trident back into a gun before putting it on his back. "Come to look for me, Weiss? Knew you'd miss me eventually!"

Weiss groaned in more pain than she thought she ever could. "No, Neptune. I'm here for Ruby."

Neptune froze before pulling his goggles onto his eyes. "…got it. Ruby. Always Ruby."

Weiss sighed when Neptune started looking like a kicked puppy. "Yes Neptune, always Ruby."

"Yeah… Ruby…"

They both stood in silence for a few seconds.

"…well, how did you get here?" Weiss asked.

Neptune started to think. "Well… I came here with Sun as my only partner. It's been…two weeks at least. We were attacked by a Grimm that looked like one of our old classmates-OH SHIT, SUN!" He turned around and began to run. "They got Sun!"

Weiss ran after him, for some reason she wasn't surprised Neptune forgot something so important. "How could you forget something like that?"

"What can I say? I had to stop and smell the flowers! By the way, nice rose perfume! Late gift of Ruby's?"

Weiss shot a glare at him.

"Ok! Dropping conversation!"

The two ran into a building.

Neptune looked around. "Ok before I ran off to save your pretty self-"

Weiss's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Neptune cleared his throat nervously. "I tracked Sun to…here."

They both looked down at a hole in the floor, covered by the same slimy fungi the Grimm were made of.

Weiss crossed her arms. "Yeah… Definitely not going down there."

Neptune frowned. "Yeah, rather ill-advised." He poked the slime around the hole. "Hmm…this fungi only started growing here recently." He moved to a certain spot of the slime and pushed it away with his weapon. "There's a hunter down there." He tossed Weiss a tape.

Weiss cringed in disgust. "What kind of idiot would crawl down there?"

"Pop the tape and let's find out."

Weiss sat down her backpack and opened it, digging up the tape recorder she was given. "You've been here for a while. What are the chances of a Grimm attack anytime soon?"

Neptune thought about this. "…I'd say we got ten minutes. The Grimm tend to regroup and strategize."

Weiss nodded and popped the tape in, crossing her fingers in hopes that this tape would bring her closer to finding Ruby.

**_Date? Ah fuck it. I lost track of the days._**

Weiss frowned at the familiar voice. "Isn't that-?"

Neptune nodded. "Professor Christian. Good guy. You don't get many professors that are only age seventeen. Years must have been bad for him if he had to take this job."

"I can relate…"

**_I don't know if I have gone mad already. It has been a long time since I have had any medication. Aura seems to reflect all over this area, keeping me from properly sensing others. I feel strange energy from this area, and I can only hope it is another huntsman. May Daraxus protect me from the dark below…_**

Weiss removed the tape when it quit playing. She remembered the name "Daraxus" from Ruby's late night prayers, with it being the name of the god of life and death. _"Yep. Totally protected both of you didn't it? Now one of you is missing and the other is down a disgusting hole."_

Neptune sighed. "Not much we can do here." He pulled out a notepad. "According to what I remember about building design in this area, that hole may lead to a basement." He looked at the doors around the room they were in. He rubbed his notepad into one of the doors and looked at the residue on the page, noting the dust before it dissipated into the strange energy the barrier let off. "Here. Basement doors placed in buildings like this are dust powered. Dust residue builds up really easily."

"Then open it," Weiss said, noticing that the door was quite durable and probably offline.

"Yeah… Nothing can be done about it. I could blast at it all day, but I wouldn't scratch this thing. The people that used to occupy this area have an underground network of tunnels that they wanted kept secret."

Weiss groaned. "Then how do we power it? I could probably hack it from the side terminal."

Neptune laughed. "You? Hack? Leave this to the intellectuals!"

"You mean the nerds?"

"Ouch. That's cold, ice queen."

Neptune moved over to the side terminal. "My weapon originally used dust, but I modified it to run off of aura. I am sure I can do the same with-"

The terminal was made of the same material as the door, making alteration an impossibility.

"-crap. I can't even open this thing."

Weiss paced around as she thought. _"The smart way isn't cutting it… What would Ruby do?"_ She froze when she remembered something. "…we need to stay here."

Neptune raised an eyebrow. "That would be suicide. The Grimm will be back soon."

"Got advice from another hunter here. He advised me to stay where the path cuts off."

"Then why isn't he with you?"

"Don't know, but if we got this door open and got to go after Professor Christian, can you imagine how useful he would be? His semblance is teleportation."

Neptune thought about this. "Good plan actually. Teleport out of the barrier. I'm going after Ruby for ya."

"I said his semblance would be useful. I didn't say anything about leaving."

"Your Myrtenaster doesn't even work properly in here! No dust works! You need to get out of here!" Neptune snapped.

"I don't care! Ruby is my priority!" Weiss snapped back.

The hole in the floor started making noises.

The two stopped arguing and looked at the hole.

"Um…that shouldn't be possible. It would take quite a climber to climb up that grime…" Neptune muttered before aiming his gun at the hole.

Weiss reached into her bag and pulled out a grenade. "Should I light it up?"

Neptune sheepishly backed away. "Where the hell did you get that!?"

"Found it. You seriously need to learn how to scavenge."

Neptune nodded. "Light it!"

Weiss pulled the pin and chucked the grenade down the hole.

Nothing.

"…and it just happened to be a dust grenade. Wonderful. A grenade that can't explode."

Sun peaked out of the hole, rubbing his head in pain. "Will you please not throw shit at me!?"

Neptune quickly started to pull Sun out of the hole. "You should have called up! We could have blown you up!"

Sun chuckled nervously. "Well, thankfully you didn't." He turned to Weiss. "Sup, snow angel? Looking for Ruby?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes, Sun, thank you for guessing correctly. One of you had to."

Neptune grumbled and crossed his arms. "How did you get away from those Grimm anyway? You don't even have a scratch on you!"

Sun chuckled and gave Neptune a thumbs up. "I'm just that good!"

The ring of metal piercing flesh echoed through the room.

Weiss and Neptune's eyes widened when they saw a sword go through Sun's chest.

"No. You're not that good, Grimm." A man pulled himself out of the hole behind Sun and pulled the blade back out.

Weiss saw black slime dripping from the blade. _"That Grimm almost had us…"_

The man dusted himself off. He was Neptune's age and had quite the build. His hair was a clean white and his eyes were covered by goggles. He wore what probably used to be armor, but now it was losing its luster. He had two very large blades on his back, both of them having the proper components to be sniper rifles as well. He wore a green, white-rimmed cape made from thick fur.

"Professor Christian?" Weiss asked.

The man glared at her. "Flare your aura."

Weiss flared her aura immediately.

Neptune was still gaping at what remained of the Grimm that looked like his friend.

Weiss nudged him.

Neptune snapped out of his stupor and flared his aura.

The man nodded and put away the sword he stabbed the Grimm with. "Call me Lucas. We discussed this when I was still your teacher, Ms. Schnee, or is you name Mrs. Rose now?"

Weiss smiled for the first time in a while. "Still Schnee, Lucas."

Lucas narrowed his eyes. "Ruby's here isn't she?"

"…yes…"

Lucas grabbed his head as if trying to straighten out his thoughts. "The Grimm may look like humans, but they don't have aura. That is how I can identify them. For the past few days, I have been being attacked by a figure that looks like Ruby, but the figure has an aura. She's definitely not a Grimm copy."

Neptune shrugged. "Maybe she ran out of medicine and went crazy. That is a thing that happens here."

Weiss smacked Neptune. "Don't even say anything like that! There has to be… Something else… Lucas, do you remember anything that may explain this?"

Lucas shook his head. "I-I'm sorry if I am a bit scatterbrained right now. I've run out of medicine myself. I don't really have much longer before the madness takes me."

Neptune reached into his pack. "You can have some of mine-"

"No. Don't waste it on me. It's best if you use it."

"Prideful until the end, huh?"

"As all headmasters are." Lucas groaned and sat down against the wall.

Weiss sat down next to him. "You ok?"

"The madness makes every thought require a lot of energy. I just need some rest. Ask me whatever you need to."

Weiss nodded. "Have you found any survivors here?"

Lucas frowned and held his head to keep his thoughts straight. "…a boy in a light colored hoodie. I've seen him a few times. Not sure if I was hallucinating that or not. He told me to come here."

"I've seen him too. He told me to stop here, probably for you. Can you help us progress?"

Lucas turned to the invulnerable door next to them. "I can open that. I was a high-ranked person in the area before it was taken over by Grimm. I have the ID clearance."

Neptune laughed. "Open that thing? Listen, professor. The people who originally populated this area were as advanced as can be! You may have become a headmaster at a young age, but I don't think they'd be accepting you as a political figure-"

Lucas pulled his swords from his back. "ID Lucas Christian. Acknowledge and run security measures."

The door opened.

Lucas forced himself to his feet. "I have a shelter not far from here. Should be enough room for your ego."

Neptune gaped at the door. "…did you marry someone high in your government?"

"No. I was simply inheriting my father's position. Come along." Lucas went through the door.

Weiss shrugged. "Lucas always did have ways to appear older than he really is." She started to follow.

Thankfully there were no more Grimm to be seen when they made it to another door.

Lucas commanded the door to open and gestured for everyone to get inside. "These doors don't break easily. This has been my camp for a while."

Weiss and Neptune stepped inside to be greeted by the smell of something they had missed.

Actual cooking.

Lucas moved over to a fire he had left in the corner of the room and pulled a pot from it. "I have been doing good in scavenging water and food. I actually have a makeshift garden not far from here." He placed the pot on a crooked table he had probably picked up from somewhere. "You guys ok with stew? Not really anything special. I have a teaching degree, not a culinary."

"Better than whatever food we have with us," Weiss commented.

Neptune nodded in agreement.

Lucas grabbed a backpack from another room that connected to the one they were in. "We've got plenty of space here. Choose whatever room you like." He opened his pack and tossed a tape to Weiss. "You'll want to listen to this."

Weiss nodded and pulled out her tape recorder before putting in the tape.

**_Not really gonna say the date here. Doesn't matter at the point. This is Lavender Lightning. *Background Noise* Ruby, please calm down. I literally gave you an hour with your recorder! I'm sure you can provide me the same!_**

Weiss stopped the recording. "Who is that?"

"Lavender Lightning. He was my first student. He actually was the top-ranked figure in this area. Above me. His ID would be really valuable," Lucas answered.

Neptune chuckled. "Younger than you, and yet has higher rank? Your people are weird!"

"You get used to it."

**_The Grimm here seem to be originating from the blast vault. I am going to investigate it personally. My partner Ruby has someone special to get back to, so I will make sure to get this done quickly. This is my fight now. Um… If someone is listening to this, can you check the science section of the dust plant? Something has been bugging me for a while… I'm sure it's nothing dangerous. Yeeeeeaaaaah… Totally not expecting the Grimm to be using the supplies there for anything bad. Hehe~ You'll be fine! *Background noise* Ruby! Get out of my pack! If you wanted cookies, you should have better spaced yours out! Those are mine! Ow! Ow! Ruby!_**

The tape cut off.

Weiss grabbed Lucas by his collar. "Where did you find this tape!?"

Lucas glared at her. "Further down. It was close to a door I didn't have clearance to open. Following them will be near impossible. We should check the dust plant first."

Weiss sighed and let go of Lucas.

Lucas stumbled over. "We should eat and rest. I don't have near as much energy as you two do."

"Is your madness really getting that bad?" Neptune asked.

Lucas coughed out some blood.

"Holy shit! That's bad!" Neptune started pulling medical supplies from his pack.

* * *

_**Party Members**_

**Weiss Schnee: Tactician**

**Neptune Vasilias: Intellectual/Nerd**

**Lucas Christian: Asylum Academy Headmaster**

_**Madness Counter**_

**Weiss Schnee: 5%**

**Neptune Vasilias: 2%**

**Lucas Christian: 95%**

* * *

**Welp. We got an insane person now. Guess we know who's dying first! Leave me a review! Reviews are pretty much what it takes to make me stay up late and write, since I never have time during the day. Since I only write while half-asleep and brain-dead, I may have missed some edits. Sorry about that...**


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